“Small animals,” such as hamsters, gerbils, and mice are often kept as pets in cages that are connected by one or more passageways to entertainment and/or interactivity features located external to the cage.
The passageways are comprised of one or more conduits that can be assembled together by various means to interchangeably form the passageways. Some conduits may be arranged to be vertically or angled steeply upwards or downwards with respect to a horizontal plane. The small animals traverse vertically or steeply angled conduits by wedging their backs against one area of the conduit and simultaneously use their feet for propulsion.
To make such a climbing technique possible, conduits must be suitably sized. A conduit that is too large will not allow the animal to press their back against one side and have the feet reach the opposed side.
Conduits known in the art use a nominal diameter of two inches, i.e. “standard conduits.” The diameter is considered to be nominal because most conduits include features that reduce the diameter in some aspect over some portion of the conduit. For example, the conduit may include raised ridges on the inside for the animal to grasp with their feet or includes end portions that are configured as overlapping/underlapping sleeves.
The two inch diameter is suitable for a Syrian hamster, also known as a Golden Hamster, i.e., Mesocricetus auratus, and certain gerbils, it is too large for dwarf hamsters, i.e., Phodopus campbelli—Campbell's Dwarf Hamster, Phodopus roborovskii—Roborovski's (Desert) Dwarf Hamster, or Phodopus sungorus—Winter White Russian (Dzhungarian) Dwarf Hamster, individually and collectively “dwarf hamsters.” Similarly, a two inch diameter is unsuitable for baby Syrian hamsters or baby dwarf hamsters, i.e., “baby hamsters.”
Although, conduits known in the art may be scaled down to accommodate dwarf hamsters or baby hamsters, pet owners may have already made an investment in cages and standard conduits and, thus, wish to keep these standard conduits and yet have them be usable with dwarf hamsters or baby hamsters. Similarly, pet owners may wish to be able to interchangeably use a standard conduit for a Syrian hamster and dwarf hamsters or baby hamsters. Thus, what is needed is a means to permit dwarf hamsters or baby hamsters to utilize a standard conduit.